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By ALBERT C. SPROUL 



Published By 

DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Elgin Chicago New York Boston 

Publishing House and Mailing Rooms, Elgin, Illinois. 


Copyright, 1918, 

By David C. Cook Publishing Co. 
Elgin, Illinois. 


SPIES 

By ALBERT C. SPROUL 

CHAPTER ONE. 

W HY, father, what’s the matter?” Harvey asked as he 
entered the room where Commandant Saunders was 
pacing furiously up and down. The officer held in 
his hand the pages of an official communication that an order- 
ly had delivered to him a short time before. 

“ Matter !” the commander snapped. He paused and low- 
ered his voice to a cautious whisper. “ There are spies some- 
where on this island.” 

“ Are you sure !” Harvey stared at his father aghast. 

“ Listen to this !” Commandant Saunders read an extract 
from one of the pages which he held in his hand : “ ‘ We have 
ample proof that spies are at work on Rogers Island. Accu- 
rate plans of the station, copies of which are herewith in- 
closed, together with the results of some of the earlier experi- 
ments of the past month, have been secured from a foreign 
agent of international importance, who was caught spying in 
the vicinity of Fort Warrington.’ ” 

Harvey showed his amazement. The realization of what all 
this meant to his father, who was in charge of the experi- 
ments, came to him. “ Perhaps they got the information 
somewhere else,” he suggested, “ after you had wirelessed the 
results in code.” 

“But what about the plans of the place?” Commandant 
Saunders strode to his desk, selected a folded paper from a 
number that lay scattered about, opened it, and laid it out on 


4 


SPIES, 



“ There are spies somewhere on this island.” 



SPIES. 


5 


the blotter. “ Here is a copy of the plans of the station that 
were found on the spy. Do you notice how little details are 
included — minute changes that I have made only in the past 
few months? They must have made the sketch here on this 
island.” 

The fact was so obvious that Harvey had nothing further to 
say. 

“ I’m telling you all this,” his father went on, “ so that you 
may help me discover the culprits. A boy, unsuspected, can 
often ascertain facts that those older than he have not the op- 
portunity to find out.” 

“ I’ll do my best, father,” assured Harvey, who flushed with 
pleasure at the confidence which his parent put in him. 

“ We must know where the leak is within two weeks — be- 
fore the test of the Mercite guns. Otherwise there is but one 
alternative left for me.” 

“ What is that?” 

“To banish every one of the inhabitants on this island and 
comb the place so thoroughly that there won’t be a living be- 
ing left on it except those immediately connected with the ex- 
periments.” 

“ Father !” The exclamation burst from Harvey’s lips in 
spite of himself. Though the island belonged to the Govern- 
ment, the authorities had leased one end of it to about two 
hundred of the original inhabitants. These were, for the 
most part, old people, who eked out a pittance from fishing 
and farming. To banish them would mean to send them to 
the poorhouses on the mainland and make them State charges. 

“ I can’t express to you,” the commandant continued, shak- 
ing his head sadly, “ what such a step would mean to me, but 
my first duty is to my country.” His decision rendered, he 
turned once more to the work of the day. 

Harvey walked slowly out of the room. Going through the 
covered passageway, he passed the sentinel at the ponderous 
gate and entered the stockade. This consisted of several acres 
of level land inclosed by walls formed by joining the trunks 
of trees together in palisade fashion. These trees had been 


6 


SPIES. 


cut from the extensive woodland in the vicinity, nothing but 
the undergrowth being left, and obviated the necessity of 
bringing considerable building material from the mainland. 
Harvey peered carefully over all sides of the stockade. As far 
as he could see, there was absolutely no point outside of the 
walls where a spy could look down into the enclosure. 

He left the stockade and commenced a careful inspection 
of the outer walls. To insure privacy, Commandant Saunders 
had run sheathing ten feet high around the exterior walls of 
the entire enclosure. These boards were perfectly matched, 
and Harvey could not find a single opening through which a 
spy could peer. Moreover, two sentinels constantly paced 
along each side of the stockade, on the outside, which gave 
the enclosure absolute safety in that respect. 

Harvey became more and more puzzled. Could it be pos- 
sible that the spies had photographed the station from an 
airplane? The idea had no sooner suggested itself to him 
than he sought out his father and asked him about it. 

“ Fm quite certain that such is not the case,” the command- 
ant replied. “ In the first place, no aviator could have de- 
scended low enough to have made out some of the small ob- 
jects included in the spy’s plans. Then, we have been con- 
stantly on the alert for such a happening. There are two 
soldiers in that tower inside of the stockade continually 
watching for airplanes. The observers have an anti-aircraft 
gun and woe unto the airplane that ventures too near the 
island.” 

“ Perhaps they tunneled their way in.” 

“ How could they do that and conceal all traces ? As you 
know, I have reenforced the walls on the inside with a mar- 
gin of concrete. The remainder of the soil is carefully raked 
level. Any disturbance from below would have been instant- 
ly noted by us. Then again, they would have obtained only a 
view of the heavens and not of the stockade. And you must 
realize that the papers found on the foreign agent prove that 
the spies actually saw the tests while they were being made.” 

“Do you think there is a traitor among the soldiers?” 


SPIES. 


7 


Commandant Saunders sprang to his feet. “ I can’t believe 
it ! The men have been tested again and again. They have 
been watched by secret-service men. If any one of them has 
been ‘ reached/ I would lose my faith in mankind.” 

More perplexed than ever, Harvey once more applied him- 
self to the pressing task of discovering the leak. Apparent- 
ly there was no possible way in which an outsider could gain 
access to the stockade and wrest from it its secrets. Yet the 
fact remained that it was being done. “Well,” cried Harvey 
courageously, “ I’ll find them if I have to fight to the last 
ditch.” 

As he turned a corner of the stockade, he saw an unusual 
stirring down towards the shore. The bunk house of the 
dredging crew was being moved. Standing near by and su- 
pervising the operations were two strangers who had arrived 
on the steamer the day before. “ Secret-service men,” decided 
Harvey. He had seen them in earnest conference with his 
father. 

The dredge, with its crew, had come to Rogers Island about 
three months before to clear out and dig deeper the channel 
that led to the wharf. Constant breakages, however, had 
delayed the work fearfully. Even now, the breaking of an 
important part had tied up the dredge, and the foreman was 
trying to obtain a duplicate part from the mainland. 

A squad of soldiers helped raise the bunk house with jacks 
and put it on rollers. By means of a cable, they dragged the 
house to a point further along the shore. 

Harvey’s mind was working rapidly. Like particles drawn 
to a magnet, fragments of a growing suspicion flew into his 
mind. The spy must be among the crew of the dredge. Be- 
fore their arrival, there had been no trouble whatsoever. 
The channel, where the dredge was working, was only a hun- 
'dred feet from the stockade. The crew had been there for 
more than three months. Harvey rapidly approached the 
scene of action. He saw the secret-service men carefully ex- 
amine the house and the place on which the house had pre- 


8 


SPIES. 


viously rested. They even went so far as to dig here and there 
in an effort to locate something, but to no avail. 

“ Let us look over the dredge,” Harvey heard one of them 
say to the other, whereupon they started off toward the wa- 
ter’s edge. Harvey followed them as closely as he thought 
prudent. In a short time, the men reappeared. The baffled 
looks on their faces and their lagging steps clearly proclaimed 
their failure. A detailed search of the crew and their be- 
longings followed, with the same result. What, only^a short 
time before, promised a speedy solution, now threatened to be 
come a long-drawn-out one. Harvey made no attempt to get 
acquainted with the secret-service men, for he felt that his fa- 
ther preferred to have him work on his own account. 

Outside of the dredging crew, there were practically no new 
arrivals. The garrison and the inhabitants of the island, all 
of whom had been there for a long time, constituted the en- 
tire population. And it was out of the question to imagine 
that a stranger had landed and was concealed among them. “If 
it isn’t the dredging crew,” muttered Harvey at last, “ it must 
be one of the soldiers or one of the old inhabitants. Father 
doesn’t believe the blame lies with the soldiers and how can it 
lie with the inhabitants? They are forbidden to come to this 
part of the island and they never have access to the stockade.” 
Suddenly he brandished his fist determinedly in the air. ** 1 
believe members of that crew are guilty,” he exclaimed, “and 
I don’t care what the others say. I’m going to work in that 
direction.” 


CHAPTER TWO. 

H ARVEY’S father informed him that the crew of the 
dredge were working under a Government contract 
and no one on the island had the authority to interfere 
with them. Beyond the thorough examination which the se- 
cret-service men had given the crew’s quarters, nothing more 
could be done. Proof was what Harvey had to get ! As far 
as could be ascertained from the papers found on the spy, 


SPIES. 


9 


nothing whatsoever had been discovered of the secrets of the 
experiment station previous to the arrival of the dredge. 
That was, so Harvey thought, one indication of the guilt of 
the crew. More evidence than that was necessary, however. 

Harvey decided to probe back into the past a bit. He went, 
therefore, to Engineer Oswald, who had charge of the con- 
struction work on the island. “ Is there any way of telling/’ 
he inquired, “ how the Felton Dredging Company got the 
contract to dredge the channel down at the wharf?” 

“ Easiest thing in the world,” the engineer replied. “ They 
got the job by bidding less than the others.” Then, seeing 
the puzzled look on Harvey’s face, he expanded his explana- 
tion. “You see, the Government asks for bids on almost all 
of this outside work. Each contractor states the amount for 
which he will do the specified work and sends the estimate to 
headquarters in a sealed envelope. All these bids are opened 
on a certain date and the firm that bids the lowest — pro- 
vided, of course, that it is a responsible one — gets the job.” 

“ Could I find out how much the Felton Dredging Company 
asked for this work?” 

“ Surely. The figures of the successful bid are always 
published. Perhaps I can give you the information right 
here.” He turned to a rack filled with magazines. “ The con- 
tract was awarded,” he half-mused to himself, “ about three 
months ago. That would bring the figures in this issue.” He 
selected one of the copies of The Trades’ Review and rapidly 
thumbed over the pages, until he reached the department 
headed “ Government Contracts Awarded.” Glancing hastily 
from item to item, he came at last to that for which he was 
seeking. As he noted the figures, he started. “ Only thirty 
thousand dollars !” he cried. “ Surely the firm must be crazy ! 
With that stiff gray clay down there, it’s a fifty-thousand- 
dollar job, if it’s worth a cent.” 

“Then they bid away below cost?” 

“ There’s no doubt about it.” 

“ Perhaps they didn’t know the kind of material they had 
to dredge out.” 


10 


SPIES. 


“ They made tests the same as the others.” 

“ Maybe it's a new firm.” 

Engineer Oswald consulted the magazine once more. 
“ They’ve been in business for twenty years. Long enough, 
I should say, to know better than to submit such a low figure.” 

With his nerves tingling, Harvey left. The bid of the 
dredging firm seemed to him but another indication of the 
guilt of the crew. Apparently unconcerned, he passed the 
stockade and made his way down to the wharf. The dredge, 
one of the clamshell variety, lay near an end of the channel. 
The barge was fastened to the shore by means of tow lines, 
firmly secured to posts driven deep into the clayey sand. A 
string of four empty scows stretched out from it. A tug- 
boat, used to haul the loaded scows three miles out to the 
dumping ground, tugged gently at her anchor chains, as she 
rose and fell a short distance away on the surge of the ocean. 
“ Still idle,” Harvey murmured to himself. “ It seems to me 
that they’ve had time enough to make repairs.” 

Two men were puttering around the dredge, one tinkering 
with the bucket that had gouged out huge gobs of the stiff 
clay from the bottom, while the other wiped the mechanism 
here and there with a ball of cotton waste. A third man, 
whom Harvey recognized as the foreman of the crew, was 
kneeling over the rear of one of the scows, examining the con- 
nections. A popular air, which the boss whistled, came to 
Harvey’s ears. “ He doesn’t seem to be worried over the de- 
lay,” thought Harvey, “ although every day piles up the ex- 
penses on an underpriced job. Being the man who has to 
shoulder the responsibility — ” A look of conviction flashed 
over his face. He pressed his lips firmly together and scowled 
hostilely at the dredge. “ A blind man could see which way 
the trail leads,” he muttered fiercely. 

He turned around and started to retrace his steps, when 
the door of the bunk house opened and a boy, about his own 
size and age, appeared in the doorway. “ Hello,” greeted the 
stranger. 

Harvey straightened up perceptibly. Something within him 




SPIES . 


11 




“ Hello,” greeted 


the stranger. 




12 SPIES. 

suggested caution. “ Hello,” he replied, trying his best to act 
as indifferently as possible. 

The boy who had addressed him was evidently a newcomer 
on the island, for, so far as Harvey could remember, this was 
the first time he had seen him. The next words of the 
stranger verified his conclusions. “ I just got in on the last 
steamer,” the newcomer stated, as he advanced toward Har- 
vey with a friendly smile. “ Dad’s the foreman and he wants 
me here to help him on the job, although” — he grinned as he 
eyed the idle dredge — “ things don’t seem very brisk now.” 

Harvey did not permit himself to be disarmed by the boy’s 
apparent friendliness. Deep down within him, he felt that 
there was danger somewhere. “ Going to stay long?” he in- 
quired. 

“Until the job’s ended, I guess. My name’s Adolph. What’s 
yours?” 

Harvey told him, whereupon Adolph familiarly slapped him 
on the shoulder. “ Let’s go in swimming,” he suggested. 

That was the beginning of a strange acquaintanceship. Har- 
vey’s new companion constantly tagged at his heels. No 
hints, however broad, sufficed to get rid of him. If Harvey 
attempted to evade him, Adolph sought him out. This ham- 
pered Harvey in his work of investigating the mystery. He 
did not dare to break with his new acquaintance, for he feared 
arousing his suspicion. Then, Harvey instinctively felt that 
he might get some sort of clue through watching him. 

A week later, just three days before the important tests, 
the steamer from the mainland put in her appearance. Scarce- 
ly was she fastened to the pier, when Harvey, who with 
Adolph, was standing on the shore near by, descried a long 
line of people, escorted by soldiers, coming from the direction 
of the village. Harvey started. A foreboding of what the 
procession meant came to him. His father had carried out 
his threat and was sending the inhabitants from their homes 
to the mainland ! He could not bear to see the bent old figures 
stumble along in heartbroken silence, toward the steamer 
that was to carry them from their beloved island. 


SPIES. 


13 


With as great haste as possible, Harvey sought out his fa- 
ther in his quarters. The commandant was standing by the 
window, a look of deep sorrow seaming his face. “ Oh, fa- 
ther,” exclaimed the boy, “ how could you !” 

“ Duty compels me to, my boy,” the commander spoke slow- 
ly and solemnly. “ The safety of millions depends upon the 
secrecy of the coming tests. For that I have sacrificed the 
hundreds.” 

A short pause ensued. “ We have all tried in vain,” Com- 
mandant Saunders continued, “ for the past ten days to dis- 
cover just where the leak is. You know how unsuccessful we 
have been. The only thing left for me to do is to banish ev- 
ery one from the island except the garrison. I have held out 
a vestige of hope, however, to the poor old people, for I have 
told them that they may return to their homes as soon as we 
discover how the foreign agents obtain their information. 
This must be done soon, however, otherwise the Government 
will tear down the houses and clear the island.” 

An orderly entered the room at that moment. “Well?” 
questioned Commandant Saunders. 

“ I delivered the message to the foreman of the dredging 
crew,” stated the orderly. “ He refuses to leave.” 

“On what grounds?” The commander’s eyes flashed with 
anger. 

“He says that he is not subject to your orders; that he is 
working under a Government contract; that you have abso- 
lutely no evidence that he is interfering in your work.” 

“He defies me, does he? I’ll make him move!” 

The orderly nervously brought his hand up in salute again. 
“ Beg pardon, sir, but the foreman told me that he would 
stick to the last; that if you attempted to use force, he would 
sue the Government for heavy damages and get them.” 

“ Could he do that, father?” broke in Harvey. 

Commandant Saunders slowly regained his composure. He 
reflected before replying. “ I believe he could,” he finally an- 
swered, “ especially since we have searched his quarters and 
discovered nothing.” 


14 


SPIES. 


“That is all,” he said to the orderly, who left the room. 

As soon as they were alone, Harvey poured out his con- 
victions to his father, telling him of the low bid, of the ap- 
parent unconcern of the foreman of the dredging company 
and the crew, of the long delay in repairs, plus every addi- 
tional scrap of information that he had laboriously acquired. 
Commandant Saunders listened intently. “You may be right, 
after all,” he remarked, when Harvey had finished. “ But 
how do they do it?” 

“ I’m positive the secret lies in the dredge.” 

“ But that’s in the water.” 

“ I believe it’s done from diere,” declared Harvey emphat- 
ically. 

“ I’ve had it searched thoroughly.” 

“They were on their guard that time. If I could only 
catch them unawares !” 

The commander appeared thoughtful. “ You seem to be on 
pretty good terms with the foreman’s son. Can’t you visit 
the dredge any time you want to?” 

“ No. Adolph says it’s against the rules of the company.” 

“ Hum-m-m. That seems a trifle suspicious.” 

“ I’m going to find a way,” vowed Harvey determinedly. 
“If I have to — ” With a bound he was at the command- 
ant’s side. “ I’ve got the way, father,” he cried enthusiastic- 
ally. Pve got the way !” 


CHAPTER THREE. 

H ARVEY explained his plan to his father. 

“ It won’t do any harm to try it, anyway,” reflected 
the grizzled officer. “ And it may result in discovering 
what we are after. Go ahead and good luck to you.” 

Harvey required no second prompting. Brimful of enthu- 
siasm, he strode outside. By this time, the steamer had dis- 
charged its cargo and had received on board all the old in- 
habitants of the island. When Harvey rounded the stockade, 
the soldier caretakers on the wharf had cast off the lines and 


SPIES. 


15 


the steamer was churning astern, preparatory to turning 
around and making for the mainland. At sight of the for- 
lorn figures on board, grouped along the railing, Harvey 
averted his eyes. 

“Come, take a look at her,” broke in a familiar voice behind 
him. Adolph, his face beaming with pleasure, had stolen up. 

“Look at what?” asked Harvey abruptly. 

As a reply, Adolph grasped his companion by the arm and 
drew him slightly resisting, toward the shore. When they 
reached the wharf, Harvey perceived a motor boat in the 
water beside the dredge. “It’s mine,” enthused Adolph. “It 
came on the steamer. Isn’t it a beauty? Let’s fill the tank 
and give it a try-out and maybe have a swim, before we come 
back.” Nothing loath, Harvey agreed. 

Having procured their bathing suits, they filled the tank 
with the gasoline that Adolph obtained from his father on 
the dredge, stripped off the canvas cover, and sparked the en- 
gine. While Harvey cast off the ropes that fastened the mo- 
tor boat to the dredge, Adolph took the wheel in the bow, 
and they chugged out into the ocean. “Where shall we go?” 
asked the owner, after they had proceeded a considerable dis- 
tance. 

Harvey had seated himself on the leather-covered cushion 
on one side of the boat, and pondered over the significance 
of this new happening. Had this motor boat any part to play 
in the scheme of the spies? While revolving the matter in 
his mind, his eyes rested on the bathing suits which they had 
brought along. He gradually created a working plan, which 
he had just completed when Adolph asked the question. 
“Why not go to Pequot Island?” suggested Harvey. “There’s 
a good sandy beach there. Just the place for a swim.” 

“ All right.” Accordingly, Adolph headed the motor boat 
in the proper direction. Pequot Island was about ten miles 
from Rogers Island. It was a high, semi-cone-shaped mound 
of sandy soil, bare and precipitous on one side, while the tree- 
covered side opposite sloped gradually down to the water’s 
edge. Thick clumps of bushes, backed by scrubby trees, en- 


16 SPIES. 

circled the base and made a tangle that afforded shelter and 
concealment. 

The boys grounded in a cove, on the sandy shore that ran 
down from the bushes to the water. Getting into their bath- 
ing suits in the boat, they jumped overboard. 

“ Br-r-r !” spluttered Adolph, “ but the water’s cold.” He 
struck out parallel to the shore and away from the motor 
boat. 

Harvey noiselessly pulled himself into the boat, threw his 
own clothes on the shore, pushed off, and then quietly waited 
until his companion had gone some distance from the boat. 
Adolph continued to swim ahead without looking back. Sud- 
denly, Harvey sparked the engine. At the first sounds, Adolph 
turned about in the water. “ Hey !” he shouted. “ What are 
you doing? Where are you going?” 

The boat was gliding out of the cove. With lips firmly 
pressed together and eyes fixed intently ahead, Harvey was 
starting his great adventure. Two miles out, he stopped the 
boat and donned Adolph’s clothes. As both boys were of ap- 
proximately the same size, Harvey found the fit of the gar- 
ments good enough for his purpose. Then he started the boat 
again and steered toward Rogers Island. Taking a round- 
about course, he put the island between the boat and the 
dredge. In that manner, he approached the island and land- 
ed on the side where the village was located. The little 
houses, makeshifts at the best, were all barred and shuttered. 

The desolate sight nerved Harvey up to his undertaking. 
Passing hastily by the empty dwellings, he managed to reach 
his father’s quarters undetected by any of the members of the 
dredging crew. 

“ What does all this mean?” ejaculated Commandant Saun- 
ders, as he surveyed Harvey’s disguise. 

In a few words, the latter informed him of everything that 
had'takeii place. 

“ And y ydu have nerve enough to go through with the rest 

of 


SPIES. 17 

“ I’m anxious to go ahead.” There was nothing boastful in 
Harvey’s tone. 

“ You can’t tell what they might do to you, if they catch 
you at it. You are taking a desperate chance.” 

“ I am ready.” 

Commandant Saunders’s face softened from its habitually 
stern expression. He nodded approvingly. “ I’ll have the men 
make a demonstration in the stockade, as you suggest,” he 
stated, “ so that the outsiders will think that important tests 
are under way. The crew will get their apparatus in opera- 
tion, if they are what you judge them to be. Good-by, my 
boy. I’m proud of you.” 

Harvey retraced his steps, undetected, back to the place 
where he had left the motor boat. Making a wide detour, he 
went out some distance and then circled in the direction of 
the dredge. Crouching in the bow, he pulled the canvas hat 
low over his face, so that it would be difficult for one to make 
out his features. Nearer and nearer he sped toward the red 
hulk, which, he felt certain, contained the secret that the au- 
thorities had tried in vain to discover. To his surprise, he 
found the dredge in action. From a distance he saw the open 
bucket, guided by a pair of wooden poles working through 
eyes at the end of the cranejib, descend below the water, and 
rise again, closed, to swing over and dump its contents into 
an empty scow alongside. “ The parts must have come on 
the steamer,” judged Harvey. A doubt of the saneness of his 
idea seized him. “ I’m going to try it out, anyway,” he de- 
cided. “If nothing comes of it, all well and good.” 

By this time, he was quite close to the dredge. Steering 
around the scow, he came up along one side of the barge. 
The crucial moment had come ! Har ey had stopped the 
engine and was fastening a rope to a cleat, when he heard a 
low voice coming from inside the dredge. “ Hurry up. 
You’re wanted below. Be careful, for they’re watching us.” 
The blood surged to Harvey’s face. The import of the words 
proved that his suspicions were correct. Trickery was ram- 
pant here. 


18 


SPIES 


Fortunately for Harvey, he was so much lower than the 
deck of the dredge that he escaped recognition from the man 
inside. Summoning all his courage, he leaped aboard, tak- 
ing care to keep his head bent low. With a half-rush, he en- 
tered the opening. A ghostly flare of steam from the engine 
darted throughout the room and helped obscure him from the 
man in charge. “ Hurry up,” repeated the engineer, pointing 
to an open doorway at one side, “ he’s waiting for you !” 

In another instant, Harvey had passed into the semi-ob- 
scurity of the adjoining compartment. By means of the 
light from one small window, partly veiled by the sentinel- 
like figure of a watcher, he spied a small circular opening in 
the center of the floor. The end of a rope ladder, clamped 
to the edge, was barely visible. “ Go down,” whispered the 
lookout at the window, with a hasty glance at Harvey. “ It’s 
safe enough now.” The guard instantly resumed his watch 
of the island from his post. 

Harvey swung himself over the edge of the opening, 
grasped the top rung of the rope ladder and commenced to 
descend. The pipelike iron walls, instead of going down 
vertically, slanted to a considerable degree. Harvey discov- 
ered, as he cautiously descended, that the ladder, instead of 
hanging free, lay against the lower part of the pipes. In- 
stinct told him that the channel waters pressed against the 
outer sides of the iron walls. He was making for the ocean 
bottom! As he continued to lower himself, he saw that the 
opening became larger and larger. In telescope fashion, one 
section of piping fitted into that which followed. 

At length the passageway came to an end. Harvey stepped 
into a room dimly lighted by a lantern. There was no one 
there. A small table, covered with papers arid writing ma- 
terials, two plain wooden chairs, and a small cupboard, made 
up the furnishings. Harvey stole to the table and examined 
the papers. The writing was in a foreign tongue, which, be- 
cause he had studied it for three years in the school on the 
mainland, he could decipher with a fair degree of ease. The 
papers were unquestionably reports of some kind, chronicling 


SPIES. 


19 



“ Go down,” whispered the lookout at the window. 



20 


SPIES. 


minutely the day-to-day happenings on the island. Here was 
sufficient evidence to convict the crew of the dredge for es- 
pionage. Harvey questioned the advisability of going further 
with his investigation. 

But how had they beeh able to get the information? What 
was the real purpose of this submarine room? These ques- 
tions still remained unsolved. Then, there was some one in 
this place besides himself. The engineer had distinctly said, 
“ He’s waiting for you.” 

Harvey glanced about the room and caught sight of a 
door, partly open, on the side opposite that from which he 
had entered. He tiptoed to the spot, seized the protruding 
knob and inched the door back quietly on its hinges. Utter 
darkness confronted him. Harvey backed into the room 
again. 

The “ ruff ! ruff !” of a scraping body came to his ears. 
Some one was descending the rope ladder ! Forced to action, 
Harvey again rushed to the door and opening it, plunged in- 
to the darkness. 


CHAPTER FOUR. 

H ARVEY had penetrated the darkness but a short dis- 
tance, when he came into violent contact with the roof 
of the passageway, and fell forward on his knees. 
Pressing one hand to his bruised head, he felt along the floor 
with the other. He could distinguish packed earth. Surely 
he could no longer be under the water. Otherwise, iron pipes 
and cement would have been used to prevent the water from 
seeping in. The tunnel led to the stockade. As he racked 
his memory to recall the different directions that he had 
taken to get to the submarine chamber, he heard some one en- 
ter the room back of him. Turning around, he made out the 
figure of one of the crew. 

As noiselessly as possible, Harvey crawled along the pas- 
sageway, feeling and testing with his hands each succeeding 
patch as he went ahead. Here and there currents of fresh air 


SPIES. 


21 


blew upon him from the sides of the tunnel. This gave proof 
of the existence of a ventilating plant in the vicinity. 

Anxious to end the uncertainty, Harvey crawled ahead still 
more rapidly. At length, as a faint glimmer of light illu- 
mined the darkness, he advanced more cautiously. Groping 
about a bend in the tunnel, he beheld a silent figure some 
twenty feet ahead, crouched beneath the glare of a bright 
droplight. Harvey realized that a ruse was necessary to bring 
the man from the circle of light to the gloom beyond. Breath- 
ing heavily, as though from haste, he knocked on the side of 
the tunnel. “ Quick,” breathed Harvey hoarsely, “ you’re 
wanted up above.” 

The man hastily wedged himself past Harvey, who bent his 
way into the light. He glanced eagerly at the spot where he 
had seen the other looking. With the utmost difficulty he re- 
pressed an outcry. There, in the mirror before him, he saw 
pictured the interior of the stockade ! A periscope leading to 
a subterranean tunnel! Why hadn’t he thought of that? As 
clearly as though he were actually present in person, he saw 
his father and the different officers and soldiers going through 
the pretended tests. Harvey’s mind moved quickly. How and 
where could they locate the upper end of the periscope with- 
out being detected? At last the solution came to him: The 
periscope passed through the center of a large tree trunk — one 
of those used to form the walls of the stockade. The trunk 
had evidently been hollowed out and an opening made in the 
side that faced the stockade. How simple it all was ! 

Harvey peered once more into the mirror in front of him. 
Knowing the plan of the stockade as thoroughly as he did, it 
was easy for him to locate the tree trunk which the conspira- 
tors had selected. It was a corner post, thus insuring a com- 
plete and detailed view of the interior. In spite of his dan- 
gerous position, Harvey could not suppress a thrill of ad- 
miration at the accurate scientific engineering of the whole 
scheme. 

He next turned his attention to escaping from the tunnel. 
He carefully examined the vicinity for an outlet, but could 


22 


SPIES. 


find none. The ceiling and the sides of the tunnel were ce- 
mented. It was impossible to dig through them to safety. 
The hard tamped soil of the floor took on the nature of 
baked clay and required a sharp instrument to penetrate it. 
“ The only thing I can do,” Harvey declared resignedly, “ is to 
go back the way I entered.” 

He had no sooner made up his mind, than he removed his 
shoes and started to retrace his steps quickly through the 
tunnel. As he approached the room, he slackened his pace 
and finally, about thirty feet away, came to a halt. Directly 
before him appeared a patch of light. The door had been 
swung wide open, and he heard the low voices of two men in 
the submarine chamber. Although they spoke in a foreign 
tongue, he could make out from a sentence here and there 
that they were talking about the approaching tests of the 
Mercite guns. Unfamiliar with the routine of the under- 
ground works, Harvey feared that one of the crew would mo- 
mentarily start for the tunnel to relieve him. Whatever action 
he took, had to be taken right away. 

The men had removed the lantern from the wall and had 
placed it on the table. If by some chance that solitary light 
would only go out ! Harvey raised one of his shoes, which he 
had carried with him, swung astraddle his shoulder, and 
poised the missile as though to throw it to extinguish the of- 
fending lantern. He lowered the shoe again, however, for he 
readily perceived the folly of seeking escape in that way. 
The men would be upon him before he reached the rope lad- 
der. 

Harvey prodded his lagging wits for a ruse that would ena- 
ble him to pass through the room without being halted. If 
he entered in a matter-of-fact way, he would surely be 
stopped and questioned as to the reason why he deserted his 
post at the periscope. He slipped on his shoes and laced 
them. Rising to a stooping posture, he began to half-groan, 
at the same time swaying forward. He lurched into the room, 
doubled up as though in the throes of terrific pain. “ What’s 
the matter?” cried the two men c.t the same time. 


SPIES. 


23 


Harvey did not answer, but continued to sway ahead. Bent 
over as he was, they could not see his face. “ Look out !” 
It was too late. Harvey crashed against the table and knocked 
the lantern to the floor. The room was plunged into darkness. 

Continuing to groan, he hastened in the direction of the 
ladder. By rare good fortune, his outstretched hands alight- 
ed on one of the rungs. With frantic eagerness, Harvey com- 
menced his ascent, clawing at the succeeding strands of rope. 
Below he heard the subdued exclamations of the mystified 
men. Up, up he went, each effort bringing him nearer and 
nearer the coveted freedom that meant so much to him and 
his father. Already he could see the opening in the floor of 
the dredge. Suddenly Harvey felt the rope ladder give. With 
a sickening sensation, he dropped down the steep incline and 
landed in a heap at the bottom. “ The boy’s fallen,” he heard 
one of the men exclaim. “Where is there a match?” 

“ Here is one,” the other responded. A grating scratch and 
a flickering light pierced the darkness. 

Shaken and dazed, Harvey was unable to move. With 
dread, he watched the man approach him. “ Where are you, 
Adolph?” the man called. Reaching Harvey’s side, he stum- 
bled against the prostrate body. “ Oh, here you are,” he ex- 
claimed, stooping over. As the burning match lit up Harvey’s 
features, a low cry of astonishment came from the man. “It 
is not he! It is the son of the commander of the fort!” 

“ What !” The second man sprang near, just as the match 
went out. But the two had pounced upon Harvey and held 
him in a viselike grip. “ A spy !” 

The news, transmitted by a cleverly concealed telephone at 
the bottom of the incline to the crew above, had the effect of 
a bomb on the peace of the spying band. The men in the 
submarine chamber lit the lantern again, after which those 
above hauled up the rope ladder and once more made it fast 
to the opening in the floor of the dredge. 

The men below placed Harvey, still dazed from the shock, 
in one of the wooden chairs, where they lashed him with a 




24 


SPIES. 



The two had pounced upon Harvey, and held him in a viselike grip 





SPIBS. 25 

piece of stout rope which a third member of the crew had 
brought down from above. 

“ What have you done with Adolph?” demanded one of the 
men, whom Harvey now recognized as the foreman of the 
dredging crew. 

Harvey made no reply. Instead, he groaned unfeignedly 
with the streaks of pain that banded his forehead. 

“Where’s Adolph?” commanded the foreman, with the mien 
of a thoroughly aroused man. 

“ Don’t worry, dad,” came from the direction of the in- 
cline. It was Adolph’s voice. A moment later the missing 
boy, dressed in Harvey’s clothes, stepped into view. “ So 
you’ve got him,” he commented .grimly, as he surveyed the 
trussed-up prisoner. All signs of friendliness had disappeared. 
In its place, the glint of a deep-rooted anger shone in his eyes. 

Briefly, Adolph told those assembled what had happened. 
“ As soon as he started off with the motor boat,” he went on, 
“ I suspected that he was up to something like this. I didn’t 
waste any time, but looked about the island for a means of 
getting off. I found a number of uprooted trees small 
enough so that I could strip off their branches and handle 
them easily. I bound these together with vines and creepers, 
fashioned a sail with the canvas cover that he threw on shore 
with his clothes, bundled up the clothes on the mast, and 
started off. What with propelling the raft ahead myself and 
the assistance which the wind gave me, I made fairly good 
progress. About three miles from the shore, I connected 
with the tug hauling out scows and the captain rushed me in.” 

A bell tinkled twice in the submarine chamber. All was 
instant action. The three men sprang for the rope ladder. 

“ I can’t go up with these clothes on,” exclaimed Adolph. 

“ Stay below,” was the sharp response. 

Harvey surveyed the scene in astonishment. He saw the 
three men disappear, heard the clank of a heavy door, and 
all was silence. “ What’s the matter with your friends, 
Adolph?” he bantered; “they seem to be in a hurry.” 

Adolph did not reply, but carefully tested the door that led 


26 


SPIES. 


into the incline. With dexterous fingers, he felt around the 
seams. Then, heaving a sigh of relief, he arose and strode 
to where Harvey was sitting. 

“What’s all the commotion about?” questioned the pris- 
oner again. 

“ It means that your father or some of his men have con- 
descended to pay us a visit.” 

“ Then I’m going to leave you soon.” 

“Not much,” snapped Adolph. “We are too fond of you 
to let you go.” 

“ Suppose you have to?” 

“ My dear Harvey,” drawled Adolph, “ your father couldn’t 
find you in a hundred years.” 


CHAPTER FIVE. 

A DOLPH drew up the other chair in front of Harvey, 
seated himself in it and regarded the prisoner mocking- 
ly. “ Let me explain just how carefully we have guard- 
ed our secret,” Adolph spoke at length, “and then you’ll under- 
stand just why there is practically no chance of your father 
finding you here.” 

“ I told him I was coming,” broke in Harvey. “ He’ll tear 
the dredge apart to find me.” 

“ But the trouble is, you’re no longer in the dredge.” 

“ There’s the passageway. He’ll discover that.” 

“ No, he won’t. For the time being, that passageway has 
ceased to exist. You don’t for a moment suppose that we 
would leave such an invitation for curious outsiders? When 
those three men reached the top of the rope ladder, the trap 
was closed in the floor of the dredge and the upper end of the 
incline loosened. The pipes collapsed one in another. You 
will find them fitted together on the other side of that door.” 
Adolph indicated the door which he had recently examined. 

“ But father will send down divers. They will discover 
the secret.” 

“Oh, will they? Let me inform you that the pipes are im- 


SPIES. 


27 


bedded in the channel bank, between this room and the open 
water. The outer ends are flush with the rest of the bank 
and concealed by a traplike covering which so resembles clay 
that no one can tell the difference. You could have a hundred 
divers scouring the channel and they would never be able to 
solve the mystery. 

“ When those poor simpletons oil shore thought we were 
digging out the channel,” boasted Adolph, “ we were ex- 
cavating the tunnel all the time. Oh, but it was funny to see 
how completely we duped them, secret-service men and all.” 
He rocked mirthfully back and forth in his chair. 

Intense anger and scorn smoldered deep in Harvey’s heart. 
Embittered by the callousness and heartlessness of the oth- 
er’s attitude, he strained at the ropes that bound him fast. 

“I’m kind of getting under your skin, eh?” ridiculed 
Adolph, with a half-sneer. “ Although I will admit,” he 
grudgingly added, “ that you caused us considerable uneasi- 
ness. That’s why dad wanted me to come to keep you out 
of mischief. We’ve got you safe enough now.” 

“Don’t pat yourself on the back,” reminded Harvey. “If 
it wasn’t for that rope ladder, I would have been free by 
this time.” 

“ Thanks to the rope ladder, then.” 

“ Now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with 
me?” 

“ That is not for me to decide.” Adolph dropped his ban- 
tering attitude and became serious. “ I can say,” he stated, 
slowly and emphatically, “ that you don’t count, when the re- 
sults of our work are considered. The least you can expect 
is an indefinite term in one of the prisons of our country. 
Our secret here is too valuable to allow any single person to 
stand in our way.” 

The prisoner realized that the enemy would have no mercy 
on him. An indefinite term in a foreign prison ! The pros- 
pect made Harvey shudder. He strained his ears for some 
inkling as to what was going on above, but could hear nothing. 

When Harvey fully realized that he had to depend entirely 


28 


SPIES. 


upon his own resources for escape, he began to plot. The 
first essential was to find out all he could about the place he 
was in. “What do you do for air?” he questioned. 

“ We’ve got enough air stored in tanks to last us for weeks. 
Why, we’ve even got stores of food and water, so that we 
could remain here comfortably as long as we want to.” 

“ But how can you get out,” Harvey prodded with seeming 
innocence, “ now that they have disconnected the passage- 
way ?” 

“ Simple enough. By throwing over that lever, you pro- 
ject part way out from the bank the innermost pipe, which has 
rings all about the upper edge. Those on the dredge grapple 
for it with grappling irons and haul it up. If no one is here 
to work the lever, they send down a diver, who, knowing 
where the trapdoor is, opens it and pulls out the first section.” 

“ I should think the passageway would be filled with water.” 

“ It’s easy enough to pump out the water.” 

“But suppose the dredge has to leave?” 

An inscrutable smile passed over Adolph’s face. “ Oh,” he 
replied evasively, “ I’d find some way out, all right.” 

The answer stirred a latent hope in Harvey. Surely, he 
reasoned to himself, while he strove to look as dejected as 
possible, the spies would provide some means of escape oth- 
er than through the passageway, which necessitated the pres- 
ence of the dredge. 

“ Well,” exclaimed the foreign boy, as he jumped up from 
his chair, “ I might as well be doing what I can for my coun- 
try.” He removed a flashlight from an upper compartment 
of the cupboard. As he did so, a slip of paper fell unnoticed 
to the floor of the room. With no further word to the pris- 
oner, Adolph started off through the tunnel that led to the 
periscope. 

As soon as he had disappered, Harvey began to pull at his 
bonds. An ominous creaking of the chair-back resulted. The 
thought that, if he could smash the back, he would be able to 
free himself, caused him to jerk violently about. He lost his 
balance and toppled to the floor beside the slip of paper. 


SPIES. 


29 


As soon as he caught sight of it, he tried to make out whether 
there was any writing on it. Unfortunately, nothing but the 
blank side of the paper was visible. With fitful jerks, Har- 
vey managed to draw nearer the slip, until his mouth was 
but a few inches from it. He blew toward it and sent it in the 
air. When -it again lay on the floor, Harvey could see the 
printing on it. Hitching himself to a favorable position, he 
discovered that the text was in a foreign tongue, which he 
diligently attempted to decipher. He had not gone far, when 
the significance of the sheet came to him. The printing on 
the slip of paper was a description of the method of escape 
from the place! Harvey discovered that a tube led from the 
lower part of the cupboard, through which one might readily 
eject one’s self up to the surface of the ocean. The slip care- 
fully explained the method. It evidently had been placed in 
the upper part of the cupboard as reference in case of emer- 
gency. Again and again Harvey read over the simple direc- 
tions, endeavoring to con them perfectly. While doing so, he 
heard footsteps in the tunnel. With a few well-directed 
puffs, Harvey sent the paper under the table and was strug- 
gling violently on the floor, when Adolph entered. 

“ Having a good time?” questioned the latter. 

“Take these things off me,” demanded Harvey abruptly. 

“ My,” exclaimed Adolph in mock alarm, “ you’re getting to 
be a regular bear !” 

“ At least set me upright,” requested Harvey, in a more 
moderate tone. 

“ That sounds better. I’ll do that much for you.” Forth- 
with he pulled the chair upright. 

Clearing off the table, Adolph made a neat pile of the as- 
sembled papers. “ 1 thought I’d come back for these. There’s 
no telling what your sharp eyes may see.” Once more 
Adolph disappeared into the tunnel. 

Harvey waited for a few minutes, then carefully propelled 
his chair forward, until he reached the table. The lantern 
still rested upon it, within reach of his head. Straining, he 
leaned over and grasped the wire handle in his teeth. The 


30 


SPIES. 


lantern fell full length downward. Manipulating the handle 
with his teeth, he managed to bring the eaten below the chim- 
ney near one of his hands. In another moment, he had the. 
chimney raised and caught above the broad flame. Twisting 
his head to one side, he brought the flame of the lantern 
against a strand of rope near the back of the chair. In a short 
time, the rppe parted, leaving two smoldering ends. 

It was now the work of but a few moments to release him- 
self. He replaced the lantern upon the table, stretched his 
cramped muscles, and stooped quickly under the table for the 
precious piece of paper. With it, he hastened to the cupboard 
and opened the lower compartment. He saw inside the out- 
lines of the water-tight breech-door, described on the paper. 
This he unlocked in turn, and with the assistance of the lan- 
tern, peered into the shining tube. 

Harvey had often read of sailors being ejected from the 
torpedo tubes of sunken submarines. The difference in this 
case, however, was the fact that the man in the tube, by 
means of a series of electrical connections, could eject himself. 
There, in the forward part of the tube, were four rubber-cov- 
ered buttons. The first was to lock the breech-door behind 
him ; the second, to flood the tube ; the third, to open the for- 
ward door ; and the fourth, to apply compressed air that was 
to expel him out of the tube into the ocean. Harvey examined 
the air flasks, containing the compressed air, and the different 
connections of the mechanism. Then he went over each step 
in the operation, until he had all the facts clearly in mind. 
He had about completed the work, when he heard the clank- 
ing of striking iron, outside of the stout, tightly closed door. 
The men above were pulling out the telescoped sections of 
iron piping to form the passageway again ! 

There was no time to lose. Harvey hastily stripped off his 
shoes, coat and vest and crawled into the tube. He pressed 
the first button and heard the breech-door close behind him. 
As Harvey lay there, the realization came to him that he had 
not shut the doors of the lower compartment. Discovery was 
certain, once the men entered the chamber. He drew a deep 


SPIES. 


31 



Twisting his head to one side, he brought the flame of the lantern 
against a strand of rope 


32 


SPIES. 


breath and pressed the second button. The compartment was 
almost instantly flooded with water. Holding his breath tena- 
ciously, Harvey pressed the third and then the fourth button. 
A human torpedo, he was launched out into the ocean. He 
swam upward and came to the surface ten feet from the 
dredge. Harvey had barely time enough to draw another deep 
breath, when he caught sight of one of the crew, staring at 
him in astonishment. Realizing that he was discovered, he 
dived again. 


CHAPTER SIX. 

S WIMMING carefully, Harvey felt the bottom of the 
dredge, which he took as a guide. Easing himself up cau- 
tiously, he arose in a small triangular space formed by 
the side of the dredge, the rear of a scow and the bow of the 
motor boat. Here he was comparatively free from imme- 
diate discovery, for the stern of the scow extended over him. 
Above, he heard the hubbub of eager searchers. A daring 
plan suggested itself. Acting impulsively, he pulled himself 
over the side of the motor boat and took refuge under the 
cushioned bench that ran back to the stern. As Harvey lay 
there, a heavy fog sifted in from the ocean. If only he could 
get out into that fog, he would be able to swim ashore to 
safety. He was about to leap overboard, when he heard foot- 
steps along the side of the dredge to which the motor boat 
was attached. “ He must be around here,” a voice was saying, 
“ for we’re patrolling the shore and he hasn’t landed yet. 
Stand here and watch.” 

Harvey crouched further under the bench. To shout or 
leap overboard would announce his presence to his pursuers, 
. who would find some means to silence him before he could 
hope to attract the attention of the sentinels at the stockade. 
The pull-away of the motor boat from the dredge flashed 
' another plan into Harvey’s brain. He knew that the boat 
was fastened fore and aft by a single length of rope. That 
cut, the boat would drift away. He felt the outlines of a 


SPIES. 


33 


jackknife in one of the pockets of Adolph’s trousers. Draw- 
ing the knife out furtively, he opened a blade. The rope 
stretched from bow to stern through the center of the boat. 
In a flash, he cut the strands. The boat began to drift away 
almost at once. “What’s the matter there?” called the sen- 
tinel. 

Harvey felt the boat checked by a detaining hand. Re- 
solved to risk all, he sprang up from his hiding place. The 
sentinel was leaning down over the side of the dredge, holding 
onto the launch. Before the astonished guard could straighten 
up, Harvey bore down on his hands and forced them from 
their hold. The sentinel lost his balance and, with a cry of 
warning, tumbled into the water between the dredge and the 
motor boat. Falling flat on the bottom of the launch, Harvey 
fearfully awaited the results of his daring act. Meanwhile, 
the boat drifted rapidly away. 

Harvey heard the spluttering voice of the sentinel. “ He’s 
in the motor boat.” Realizing that they now knew where he 
was, Harvey decided to let the boat drift until it was well 
outside the patrolling distance of the crew. When he finally 
arose, he could see neither the dredge nor the island, nor 
could he hear any sounds that might help him locate his posi- 
tion. Poised on the side of the motor boat, he was about to 
plunge overboard, when he paused. He did not know in what 
direction to strike out. All he could do now was to let the 
boat drift through the heavy fog, and trust that good fortune 
would bring him up somewhere on the island. Shivering 
from the cold wind and mist, he huddled in his wet garments 
below the gunwale. Hour after hour passed, and still the 
fog did not lift. Darkness set in, and with it vanished all 
hope. Exhausted from his long vigil, Harvey fell asleep on 
the cushions which he had placed on the bottom of the boat. 

When he awoke, the sun was high in the heavens. The fog 
had disappeared. On all sides he could see only a broad ex- 
panse of ocean. Without compass, food or water, Harvey 
realized that his position was practically as hopeless as ever. 

He had been drifting about an hour when he descried a 


34 


SPIES 



The sentinel lost his balance and tumbled into the water 




SPIES. 


35 


black band of smoke on the horizon, which indicated the pass- 
ing of a steamer. Calculating the course of the vessel, he 
started the engine and made for the position where he hoped 
to intercept the ship. Steering farther and farther beyond 
the vessel, Harvey finally managed to get near enough to at- 
tract the attention of those on board. The steamer stopped. 
A short time later Harvey, abandoning the motor boat, clam- 
bered up the rope ladder which the pilot uses, to the deck. 

“Turn back!” exclaimed the captain, after Harvey had re- 
lated his experiences. “ Of course not. How do I know 
whether or not your story is true?” 

“ You could send a wireless.” 

“ The apparatus is broken. We’re repairing it now. It will 
be a long time before it is in order.” 

As Harvey walked away from the vaptain, he heard a com- 
motion among the passengers, who were crowded together 
near the bow. Following their gaze, he discerned an air- 
plane, high in the heavens before them. Then he noticed the 
peculiar platform built on the forward part of the ship. 
“Jack Leonard, of the American Aviation Station, is making 
test flights,” one of the passengers informed him. “ He flew 
from, and now is going to try to land on, the steamer.' 
When the biplane came near enough, the captain stopped the 
vessel. With marked accuracy, the airplane glided down 
upon the platform and came to a halt amid the congratulatory 
shouts of the passengers. 

Just as the aviator was .climbing out of his seat, a way out 
of his dilemma presented itself to Harvey. He told his story 
to the surprised aviator, and while he was doing so, the cap- 
tain joined them. 

“But what has all this to do with me?” questioned Jack 
Leonard. 

“ Couldn’t you carry me to Rogers Island in your air- 
plane?” 

“ Do you believe him?” broke in the captain. 

“It’s a pretty smooth story. If it’s so, I don’t know of 
any better way in which I can serve my country.” 


36 


SPIES. 


A severe crossquestioning followed, in which both the avia- 
tor and the captain tried in vain to shake Harvey’s story. 
“I think the boy is telling the truth,” declared Jack Leonard 
finally. ’ “ At any rate, I’m going to chance it.” He went 
over his machine carefully, and replenished the supply of 
gasoline. The captain lent him a compass and painstakingly 
charted the course. 

At length, Harvey, clad in borrowed garments, took his 
place in the passenger’s seat, a life-preserver fastened secure- 
ly under his arms. The aviator, with the compass lashed in 
front of him and another life-preserver about his body, 
grasped the wheel. 

The passengers, mystified at the peculiar preparations, were 
silent spectators. When the airplane swooped from the ship, 
however, and commenced to climb upward, they burst into a 
loud hurrah. 

Mile after mile, the two sped on their journey over the 
ocean, the deafening roar of the engine sounding in their ears. 
Harvey watched the horizon constantly. Suddenly he distin- 
guished land in the distance. No explorer ever felt keener 
elation in discovering new territory than did Harvey when he 
descried Rogers Island. 

The aviator caught sight of the goal, too, for he ceased 
looking at the compass and directed his attention straight 
ahead. From a misty blur, the buildings on the island gradual- 
ly became distinguishable. 

All at once a sullen boom came to their ears. Harvey’s 
heart contracted with fear. He had forgotten all about the 
anti-aircraft gun mounted on the watchtower of the stockade! 
A second muffled boom resounded. This time a shell ex- 
ploded some distance ahead of them, *nd was followed close- 
ly by another that burst near enough to rock the airplane. 

With canny skill, the aviator zigzagged down to the ocean. 
Then, barely skimming the sparkling waves, he resumed his 
flight to the island. 

They were met on the shore by a squad detailed from the 


SPIES. 37 

stockade. When the soldiers recognized Harvey, they cheered 
lustily. 

Harvey rushed to his father’s quarters. As soon as the 
commandant grasped the situation, he himself led a formida- 
ble force down to the dredge. There was no one there. 
Fearful of discovery and consequent imprisonment, the spies 
had left on the tug the day before. With pardonable pride, 
Harvey pointed out the position of the periscope, by locating 
from within the stockade the opening in the tree trunk. The 
post was wrenched loose and a hole dug down into the tun- 
nel. This they found flooded, as the spies attempted to de- 
stroy everything they could before leaving. 

“ The Government owes you something, my son,” the com- 
mander remarked. “What shall it be? I’ll mention it in my 
report.” 

“ Have them fix up the houses in the village as soon as 
possible, and then bring back the owners.” 

All that was done within the next month, and when Har- 
vey witnessed the unrestrained delight of the old people on 
viewing their restored possessions, he felt that it was worth all 
the risk he had taken. 
















































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